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Deadly blast rocks Somali capital

At least four people are killed at a Somali military base in a suicide bomb attack.

30 Nov 2011 23:17 GMT

The blast at Villa Baidoa, a military base, follows a recent string of bombs that have rocked Mogadishu [Reuters]

A suicide bomber has detonated an explosive at a military base in Mogadishu, killing himself and four others but failing to enter the compound, officials and witnesses said.

"The suicide bomber tried to enter the compound but guards stopped him, when he then detonated his bomb, killing three people on the spot including himself," Farah Barre, a government security official, said on Wednesday.

"They [al-Shabab] are engaged in a campaign of terrorising the civilian population."

Abdulkadir Hussein, information minister

"Two more people died soon after from their wounds," he said, adding that the attack took place at Villa Baidoa, a government military base near the busy K4 intersection in central Mogadishu.

Three other explosive devices were safely defused elsewhere in Mogadishu on Wednesday, Somali information minister Abdulkadir Hussein said, blaming all incidents on the armed group al-Shabab.

"They are engaged in a campaign of terrorising the civilian population," Hussein said in a statement, calling the attacks "cowardly actions of desperate and anti-Islamic criminals."

"Al Shabab are nothing more than murderers of children and civilians," he added.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in a string of blasts including roadside bombs and grenade explosions that have rocked Mogadishu in recent weeks.

At least seven people were killed in such bombings this week, reports Reuters news agency.

Battling al-Shabab

The war-torn city has seen an increase in such attacks since the al-Qaeda linked group abandoned fixed positions there in August and switched to guerrilla tactics against the Western-backed government.

Witnesses said the bomber had tried to disguise himself as a government soldier to gain access into the compound, where senior army commanders were based.

"I saw a man dressed in military uniform trying to enter the gate but he was stopped, and then minutes later I heard the huge blast," said Ahmed Mahmud, who was drinking tea on the street nearby.

"I saw four bodies being carried away, and the bits of the body of the bomber were scattered around."

In October, an al-Shabab suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden truck, killing at least 82 and wounding many more, the bloodiest such attack in the group's history.

Al-Shabab controls large parts of southern Somalia but are facing increasing pressure from regional armies and government forces.

Kenyan troops are battling the rebels in the far south, Ethiopia forces are in the south and west, while Ugandan and Burundian soldiers in the African Union force in Mogadishu are supporting government efforts.